Rehearsal on Saturday, October 24

This is a big week for all of our FVL Schools! In addition
to our FVL Schools Band rehearsal, Saturday is also our Fall
Fundraiser product pick-up (More on that below). Also, the
FVL Schools are hosting their A-Team Volleyball tournament at FVL
on Saturday. Then on Monday and Tuesday of this coming week,
all of our FVL Schools students (about 2000 grade school
students AND the FVL student body) will be participating in the
Zambia Project kick off at FVL in four special chapel services.

Since this is the weekend of the FVL Schools volleyball
tournament, some students may need to miss some or all of the band
rehearsal, even though they are at FVL. If at all possible,
our volleyball students should make every effort to attend
rehearsal, even if it is for a portion of the rehearsal. It
is perfectly OK for our students to wear their volleyball uniforms
to rehearsal - there is no need to change. With only four
rehearsals left until our concert, it is increasingly important to
attend rehearsals whenever possible.

Fall Fundraiser Product Pick Up on Saturday, October 24

The products that were ordered for the Fall Fundraiser are going to
be delivered to FVL for pickup on Saturday, October 24.
If you can not be there that day to pick up your products,
please make arrangements with somebody else to pick up the
products, such as another family from your school or church,
grandparents, etc. FVL does not have the ability to store
these items, many of which are frozen food products.

We will have the products on stage due to the FVL Schools
Volleyball tournament on Saturday. The Commons will be much
too busy for us to set up the distribution of the products in that
room.

If any parents are available to assist with the set up and/or
distribution of the products, your help would be much
appreciated! The Hansen's truck will be at FVL by about 7:30
AM. Assistance would be helpful at that time to help organize
the products on the stage, and also to help get the proper products
to parents who may want to pick them up when they drop off their
band students. More assistance will also be helpful at about
9:30 as parents are coming to pick up their children. So 8:00
- 8:30 and 9:30 - 10:00 will be the "rush hour" times when most
parents will be there for pick up.

Fundraiser Results - Amazing!

A HUGE thank you to all of our FVL Schools Band members and their
parents for making this year's Fall Fundraiser a success! The
totals are in, and they are impressive. Here is a breakdown
of the past three years and the fundraiser results:

Total number of FVL Schools Band students who participated
2013 - 26
2014 - 412015 - 42

Net Profit for FVL Schools Band program and its members
2013 - $2476.752014 - $3778.502015 - $4130.75

WOW! Of the $4130.75 in profit, half, or $2065.37 will go
into the FVL Schools Band account, and $2065.38 will go directly
into the individual student accounts. That money will be used
to offset semester one band fees. Five of our students will
realize a benefit of over $100 for their band account, while
seventeen will see benefits of between $50 and $100.

Not only do the students get the benefit of a reduction in their
student fees, but they also earned Fabulous Prizes for their
efforts! Students who sold 5 or more items will receive the
"Multi-Charge 3-in-1 connector"; 20 items sold will earn a
"Selfie Stick"; 30 items earns a "5 pound bag of Gummi Bears"; 40
items earns a "Power Stix Power Bank", and 60 items earns a
"Bluetooth Speaker Bar"! Students get all of the prizes up to
and including the prize for their level of sales. Pretty exciting!
Overall, 38 students earned the charging connector; 11 earned
the charger and the selfie stick; 6 earned the charger, selfie
stick, and Gummi Bears; and one motivated student earned the
charger, the selfie stick, the Gummi Bears, and the Power Stix
Power Bank!

Special thanks go to Cindy Countney, the Hansen's representative
who did such a great job organizing the fundraiser.

Lesson Schedule Changes for this Week, October 26, 27, and
28

Many factors will affect our normal lesson schedule for this
coming week. One will be the Zambia Project as mentioned
earler. Another is the WELS grade school and high school
Teacher's Conference this coming Thursday and Friday. Mr.
Neujahr's schedule will be affected much more than Mr.
Kramer's.

The Zambia Project chapel services are at 9:30 and 1:00 on both
Monday and Tuesday. The services are expected to last about
an hour each. Since Mr. Neujahr is involved in the services
at FVL, he will not be able to do lessons on either Monday or
Tuesday.

Mr. Kramer's schools on Monday and Tuesday won't be affected, as
they are scheduled to visit FVL for the services at times which
don't conflict with the lesson schedule.

Also, due to Riverview's lessons being on a Thursday, and
multiple Thursdays will be missed do to Teacher's Conference,
Thanksgiving, and Christmas breaks, Mr. Neujahr will have lessons
at Riverview on Wednesday, October 28 to make up some of that
time.

So here is a summary of lessons this next week:

Mr. Neujahr's Schedule
Monday - No lessons at Mount Olive
Tuesday - No lessons at Mount Olive or Shepherd of the
ValleyWednesday - No lessons at Green Bay or Brillion.
Lessons given at Riverview,
Appleton

Rehearsal this Saturday, October 10

Both the Cadet Band and the Concert Winds will rehearse this
weekend at the regular times.

For this week's rehearsal, all band members should enter
the school via the Patio Entrance, which is the set of doors
directly behind the blue Nissan Versa which is parked on the
patio. The Commons will be unavailable for entrance
because of the set up required for Saturday's Fox Fest Dinner
Auction. There will be an enormous amount of auction traffic in the
Commons as the building is prepared for the evening event.

Note that there is NO rehearsal on Saturday, October 17 and
Saturday, October 31.

New Contact Information for Mr. Robert Kramer

Because of Mr. Kramer's increased responsibilities with our FVL
Schools Band Program, he now has an FVL email address and an FVL
office phone number. They are as follows:

Hansens Fall Fundraiser packets due this Saturday

Please remember that order forms and cash/checks need to be
returned to FVL by Saturday, October 10. It is important that
we receive the packets this weekend so that Hansen can deliver the
product on Saturday, October 24. If your son or daughter will
not be at rehearsal on October 10, please make other arrangements
to get the packet to FVL on Saturday. Likewise, it is
extremely important that the products are picked up on Saturday,
October 24. If you can not be there that day, please make
arrangements with somebody else to pick up the product, such as
another family from your school or church.

Remember that 50% of the profit earned from this fund drive
will be used to support the FVL Schools Band Program, with 25% of
the profit going directly into your account to offset your fees,
and 25% going to the FVL Schools Band Fund. The band students
can also earn "Fabulous Prizes" for different levels of
sales!

Upcoming FVL Schools Band rehearsal schedule

Rehearsals leading up to our November concert will be on the
following Saturdays:

We only have five more rehearsals until our concert! Please
make every effort to have your children attend our rehearsals.

Our November 22 Fall Concert will begin at 6:00
PM. This concert will feature our two FVL Schools Bands -
the Cadet Band (beginning students) and the Concert Winds (students
with more than one year of experience). The FVL Symphonic
Band will also play a few selections at this concert. It will
be a wonderful opportunity to see the entire FVL band program, from
beginners to high school!

FVL Band and Choir concert on Sunday, October 11

The FVL Band and Choirs will present their Fall Concert on Sunday,
October 11. The concert will begin at 6:00 PM and will last
approximately one and a half hours. The concert will take
place in the FVL Auditorium. It would be fantastic to see our
FVL Schools Band members in the audience for this concert. The FVL
Symphonic Band has some exciting music programmed for this concert.
You will not be disappointed!

Rehearsals resume this week

After a week off, we are back for rehearsal on Saturday, October 3.
Conting this rehearsal, we only have six more rehearsals
until our concert on November 22. Things continue to go very
well! Thanks to all of our parents and band members for
making such a great effort to attend these important Saturday
rehearsals.

This week is also the Martin Luther Soccer Tournament in Neenah.
Thanks to the parents who let me know via email of their
child missing this rehearsal. I know it is impossible to be
at two places at one time! I do appreciate the fact that our
kids are participating in all kinds of activities. That makes
for a well-rounded student! Also thanks to some of our
families who will be attending band rehearsal before heading to the
tournament. Every little bit helps!

SmartMusic - What is it? And is it really that smart?

In a nutshell, SmartMusic is an incredibly powerful online
interactive tool for practicing at home. Mr. Kramer and I
both have access to SmartMusic, and we have been using it in our
lessons. It has been fun for me and the students to use the
program! Hopefully your children have told you about it.
Not only is it fun to use - the benefits are
extraordinary:

Choose to play along with thousands of pieces in the SmartMusic
library

Learn how your part fits within the ensemble through
accompaniment

SmartMusic listens as you play, giving you instant feedback on
assessable files

Move at your own pace by controlling the tempo and clicktrack
with subdivisions

Isolate difficult phrases of any length with the loop tool

Record and play back your practice sessions for self
assessment

Send MP3 recordings to family members and friends

Solo repertoire accompaniment follows spontaneous tempo
chnges

In addition to having the entire lesson series available in
SmartMusic (the "Standard of Excellence" books we use for lessons),
the program also has thousands of solos available for interactive
practice and accompaniment. Two of the songs for Concert
Winds - African Spririt Dance and Fanfare - are also in the
program. During lessons, we have been using SmartMusic to
work on these songs. It gives us the ability to rehearse
individual parts, with the added bonus of having the entire band
playing along with us! The assessment portion of the program
is also very powerful, as it can immediately give the student
feedback as to notes that were played correctly, and shows notes
and rhythms that were incorrect.

Students in 7th and 8th grade will soon be getting their solos.
SmartMusic is a fantastic tool to assist in learning a solo.
Not only can the students set the accompaniment to play with
them, but they can also listen to their part being played, as well
as set the tempo slower or faster to accomadate their skill level.
SmartMusic can also be used the day of the solo festival to
accompany their performance.

There is much more to the program than I can post in this space.
Go to the SmartMusic link to see for yourself.
On their website you will see a short demo video that shows
the program in use by students, as well as other links to more
information.

SmartMusic is also available to you! Although it is not free,
it is VERY inexpensive at just $40 for a one-year subscription.
It is also very simple to begin using SmartMusic.
Simply download the program to any computer, tablet, or
laptop and you can start enjoying its benefits immediately.

If you would like more information about SmartMusic, please don't
hesitate to contact me.

My guess is that if you purchase SmartMusic, your child will
practice MUCH MORE than they currently do. That is always a
good thing!

Concert Dress for the November 22 concert

So that you have adequate time to prepare, here is a summary of
what our students need to wear for our concert in November (Both
Cadet Band and Concert Winds):

The Cadet Band members will wear a sweater vest for their
performances. The vests will be handed out prior to and collected
immediately following the concert.

Concert Winds members will receive a vest and bow tie before their
performance. Vests and bow ties will be handed out prior to
and should be returned immediately after the concert.

Fall Fundraiser Reminder

Hopefully the sales are going well! Many of the kids have
commented at their lesson of their intention to win the 5 pound bag
of gummie bears! This is just a reminder that the
order packets and money need to be turned in at the October
10th rehearsal. If students will be missing that day
for any reason, they are to bring their packets to their lesson
this coming week and give them to either Mr. Kramer or Mr. Neujahr.
It is very important that we have all packets on time, so
that the orders can be placed.

FVL Band and Choir concert on Sunday, October 11

The FVL Band and Choirs will present their Fall Concert on Sunday,
October 11. The concert will begin at 6:00 PM and will last
approximately one and a half hours. The concert will take
place in the FVL Auditorium. If you are wondering, the Packer
game is at noon and will be completed in plenty of time to attend
the concert! It would be fantastic to see our FVL Schools
Band members in the audience for this concert. I know there
are many older siblings that go to FVL and participate in band and
choir, so those students may already plan to attend. Seeing
the "big band brothers and sisters" from FVL perform is a fantastic
way to build excitement for our FVL Schools Band members. In
just a few short years, they will also be a part of a high school
band program. It is amazing to see the progression from Cadet
Band to Concert Winds to the FVL Symphonic Band. The FVL
Symphonic Band has some exciting music programmed for this concert.
You will not be disappointed!

Upcoming FVL Schools Band rehearsal schedule

Rehearsals leading up to our November concert will be on the
following Saturdays:

October 3, 10, 24
November 7, 14, 21
November 22 - Fall Concert

Our Fall Concert will begin at 6:00 PM. This
concert will feature our two FVL Schools Bands - the Cadet Band
(beginning students) and the Concert Winds (students with more than
one year of experience). The FVL Symphonic Band will also
play a few selections at this concert. It will be a wonderful
opportunity to see the entire FVL band program, from beginners to
high school!